On 20th October 2010 the UN assembly passed an unanimous resolution that the first full week each February would be World Interfaith Harmony Week. It calls on people to “support, on a voluntary basis, the spread of the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill in the world’s churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other places of worship during that week based on Love of God and Love of the Neighbour, or based on Love of the Good and Love of the Neighbour, each according to their own religious traditions or convictions.” I can only wish them good luck.
Religion has been a central feature of human history My own interest in religion is cultural rather than spiritual and in this place my cultural interest is comic books. I looked on the internet. I found, in alphabetical order, specific Buddhist, Christian, Hindi, Jewish, and Muslim comics. Following up any of them can turn up some interesting looking stuff. The images were however mostly covers and we all know how misleading covers can be. Being pretty shallow I mostly just looked at the pictures - someone else can write the learned thesis. The Superhero template looms large in all categories which in some ways strikes me as odd but some deal directly with belief which for me would be the more interesting to see. The Superhero is claimed by some to be a Jewish invention but that seems based on the idea that Siegel and Schuster being Jews was more significant than them being young men with an interest in comics and pulp fiction.
There is the curiosity of ComicBookReligion.com which lists the religious affiliations of US comic book characters to the extent of distinguishing different branches of the same religion.
For my own part religion has appeared as a theme in a number of Alan Grant’s scripts for Judge Anderson strips I drew. The Jesus Syndrome most specifically but it was alluded to in Shamballa, and Satan. In Maze World we sort of made one up to explain the culture.
Sources;
Guardian Jan 13th 2011 Article - Tony Blair and Prince Ghazi Mohammed.
Wikipedia
Reuters.com
The Religious Experience of Mankind by Ninian Smart. Collins Fount Paperbacks 1981